Thirteen substantial tales, 1953-85, from short to novella length, showing Norton's complete range from sword and sorcery to science fiction. Most of the tales here, per Norton's usual style, feature strong, positive female leads. Exiled noblewoman Hertha seeks sorcerous help to avenge herself—rather predictably—on the man who raped her; a sequel involves Hertha's changeling daughter. A rousing long yarn follows the blind weaver-witch Dairine's adventures among carnivorous, spider-like alien weavers of rare skill. The lonely, confused, magical girl Tursla seeks her destiny in clues from her past, her ancestry, and her dreams. A witch rescues her imperiled lover in the magically dangerous country of the Old Ones. Also in a fantasy vein: a Witch World Sulcar woman and Falconer man who must cooperate to survive; an ensorcelled hero of Ithkar; sorcery and cats; and Baltic witchcraft. On the fantasy/sf border is the title piece: rebellious psi-powered "esper" and escaped slave Craike fall through an interdimensional doorway as pursuers close in. Orthodox sf: crossbred hive-human Tamisan's power is to project her dreams to include others; talented Steena bests an invisible monster aboard a mysteriously abandoned spaceship; and a male-lead Martian adventure. Norton has only one gear—Forward: slow—and she's often overbearingly YA-ish; but the short/medium-length format shows off her real yet limited talents to best advantage.
Pub Date: Nov. 24, 1989
ISBN: 0812547500
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1989
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
A new edition of the by now classic collection of affiliated stories which has already established its deserved longevity.
Pub Date: Aug. 16, 1963
ISBN: 055338256X
Page Count: -
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1963
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